Cricket: Friends fear for Vincent

Friends are increasingly concerned about Lou Vincent as international cricket's spot-fixing scandal centres on the former New Zealand batsman.

Vincent has long battled depression and famously travelled around the UK for six months promoting mental health awareness and raising money for charity.

He was said to be in a good space a few months ago but recent events have taken a heavy toll. Former New Zealand all-rounder and close friend Andre Adams is concerned about Vincent and hopes his efforts to come clean prove to be a cathartic experience.

"Where he's been is a horrible place and a major contributing factor in his depression," Adams said. "He's been bloody close for a few years to not being here and the scariest thing for me would be to wake up one day and hear that my mate is gone just for the sake of a few months of pain, because it'll wash over. It always does."

It's understood Vincent has employed high-ranking security personnel to guard his home on the outskirts of Auckland, given elements of the criminal underworld are involved in the wider cricketing scandal.

Former New Zealand team-mate Iain O'Brien, writing in the UK's Telegraph, said a handful of New Zealand test cricketers confronted Vincent about his suspicious involvement in the Indian Cricket League.

"We watched some of the most unbelievable cricket. Unbelievable in a way that we could not believe how obvious what was going on."

Chris Cairns, who along with Vincent and Daryl Tuffey is also under the spotlight, said he was still in the dark about his role in the ongoing investigation. "